Book Reviews

 Here are a few books I've been reading lately.

The Cat Wears a Noose by Dolores Hitchens, Adult mystery, 1944.

What it's about: This is #4 in the Rachael Murdock series. 70-year-old Rachel always seems to be around when there's a murder, which she likes to solve, much to the chagrin of Detective Mayhew. This time, her sister witnesses the murder of Addison, an obnoxious drunk with a lot of money. Rachel works as a cook in Addison's family's house and learns various family secrets that lead her to figure out who dun it. 

What did I think? This was a typical cozy mystery with an interesting story. However, I didn't always like Rachel's methods of investigation. At times, she was bossy and uncaring, especially with her sister. This was what I call a filler book. An okay read in between meatier books. There are twelve books in this series, and I've put a hold on the first one. I always like to read the first in a series when the recurring characters are established. 

What did others think? Ward read this book before I did, and he had the same general thoughts. He thought the book was an okay read, but he wasn't sure if he liked the main character. The book had positive reviews, and Amazon readers gave it a B, and Goodreads readers gave it a C.

Service Ready by Molly Irani, Adult non-fiction-Dewey 658.42, 2026.

What it's about: Service Ready is part memoir and part business guide by Molly Irani, who, along with her husband Meherwan, opened the award-winning Chai Pani restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina. The book chronicles Molly and Meherwan's journey from a small restaurant to a business today with 350 employees. 

Initially, Meherwan had a vision of opening a restaurant of Indian street food that he remembered fondly from his childhood.  But his wife was not too sure about the idea since she had watched her parents sacrifice all of their time and money into their restaurant. As they built the business together, Molly began to understand her husband's passion and came to love the work.

Not common in the restaurant business at the time (2009), they focused on hospitality and caring for both the customers and employees.  This philosophy led them to attract loyal staff and patrons, and they credit it as the main reason for their success. Of course, they had to have good food, which they did, and they won a James Beard award for it in 2022.

They survived many ups and downs (both personally and professionally), including the Pandemic and Hurricane Helene. Lessons learned during their trials are bolded in the text as a guide for good business practices and philosophies.

What did I think? I had no idea why I picked this book at the library; maybe because I wanted to learn more about the restaurant world? I have heard about how hard restaurant work is and how difficult it is to be successful, but this book put real experiences with the rumors. I found the behind-the-scenes look interesting, but even though it gave examples, it was more like a summary than a story. However, it is nonfiction, so I guess that's to be expected.  I read it mostly at night before going to sleep, as it was a calm read overall — even with the tensions of restaurant work. I'm neutral on this book. 

What did others think? The book has positive reviews from real reviewers. (Not the praise that authors leave for each other.) Amazon readers give it an A, and Goodreads gives it a B.

The Tattered Cover by Ellery Adams, Adult mystery, 2025.

What it's about: Nora runs a bookstore in a small town in North Carolina, and on Halloween night, a psychic dies in her store. Slowly, but surely, unlikely connections are made to the victim until the murderer is discovered and captured with a big chase scene. When not working on the crime, friends come together over delicious pastries and interesting books to talk about their lives. 

What did I think? This is another cozy mystery that I should have started with the first one. However, I got this in a bookmobile, and they stock only the latest books. Since I wasn't familiar with the recurring characters, I appreciated that there was a list of who's who at the front of the book.

The author did a good job of painting the cozy setting, although I occasionally got tired of the perfect pastries, books, and bookstore. There were no tricks at the end of the book about who the perpetrator was, but in the epilogue, they said the mystery was more about why they did it instead of who did it.

I enjoyed the book and will read more. 

What did others think? The series as a whole has many positive reviews, and this particular book got an A from Amazon readers and a B+ from Goodreads. 

Note: Ward has read the first two in the series, and the first one, The Secret, Book and Scone Society, had a good mystery. In the second book, The Whispered Word, you knew who did it fairly early on, but the tension came from not knowing what the bad guy would do next.

What Stays and What Goes by Faith Roberson, Adult non-fiction (Dewey 648.8), 2026.

What it's about: This is an organizing book, but different from most other ones I've seen. It spends a fair amount of time discussing the self-examination needed to understand why we hang on to what we do. It emphasizes that one size does not fit all and perfection is not the goal. The last section of the book examines the history of homemaking and its politics over the years. The various points in the book are illustrated with personal stories from the author and her clients. 

What did I think? I picked up this book at random, thinking I hadn't read anything about organizing in a long time. 

This is not a quick, bullet-point book that promises that if you just do these tricks, everything will be wonderful. In fact, Roberson rallies against that kind of thinking because it can't be maintained. She emphasizes the thought processes that need to be done before touching your things. As she goes through the beginning of the methods, I thought the book was a little slow. However, the questions she says you should ask yourself are important. They are much like what you might discuss with a therapist. 

I found the book thought-provoking and found the brief history of homemaking very interesting. As an example of how serious Roberson is about the subject, there are four pages of references in the back. That's not typical for an organizing book. However, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that there are also practical tips for organizing your things.

Even though What Stays and What Goes was not what I expected, I'm glad I read it. It gave me a lot of food for thought.

What did others think? The book has not been widely reviewed. Amazon readers gave it a B, and Goodreads gave it a C. 

Until next time...

This and That

Time flies. I was surprised when I saw that I hadn't posted for a week. 

And do you know what else flies? Airplanes and helicopters. Which badly segues me to the Festival of Flight that we attended last weekend. It's a free, family-friendly event with all things flying. We met up with other family members with littles and had an enjoyable time exploring all the festival had to offer. Unfortunately, my camera was acting up as it does sometimes and was turning off before I could get many pictures. But rest assured that a good time was had by all. 

This WWII military aircraft was built in a nearby town.

Otherwise, it seems that our focus has been on house things. The stove is still not working (part is in and repairman is scheduled for Thursday), we're still dealing with getting the window replacement, we're waiting on an estimate to replace the leaking basement door, and have contacted a contractor to install drainage around Ward's shop. It all has my head spinning, but it all needs to be done before we have any more water damage.

And speaking of our stove not working, my trusty slow cooker is getting a workout. Yesterday, I made pumpkin soup with some puree from the freezer. If you've been reading here for a while, you know that cooking is basically a chore for me. I'm a get-in-and-get-out-of-the-kitchen kind of person. So, surprisingly, in the early days of the blog, I occasionally posted recipes, and the pumpkin soup is one of them. So from 2013, here's how I make pumpkin soup.

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Pumpkin Soup

or This Experiment Turned Out Pretty Well


What to do? What to do? On Saturday, I made a batch of pumpkin bread with my secret ingredient — chocolate chips. Delicious. However, when reading the recipe, I made a mistake and ended up with an extra can of pumpkin open. What now? I didn't want it to go to waste, so I thought I would try some pumpkin soup. However, most of the recipes included ingredients that one person or another in my family didn't like — mainly onions or pumpkin pie spices. Then, somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of my brain, I remembered a sweet potato soup with peanut butter that my brother-in-law made several years ago when we were visiting, which everyone liked. That's what I would do. Make pumpkin, peanut butter soup. Once again, the recipe with the right fit eluded me, so I did some creative cooking and came up with my own concoction. It was very simple and included pumpkin, peanut butter, and curry.

And now for the reviews:
Ward said that it turned out pretty well and the flavors blended nicely with no one flavor standing out. In fact, he said that he couldn't taste the peanut butter at all. Wally said it was perfect and wouldn't change a thing. He did taste the peanut butter, but that was okay, considering that peanut butter is his favorite food. I, too, thought it was a good blend of flavors and was surprised at how filling it was. I like something to chew in my soup, so I added croutons. The perfect addition as far as I was concerned. It was super easy to make. I just dumped the ingredients into the crock pot and let them slowly simmer throughout the day until we got home from our busy schedules to try this very hearty soup.

Here's a recipe if you want to give it a try. All of these ingredients can be used in more or less quantities depending on your personal tastes. The soup is rather mild, so I was surprised when Ward and Wally didn't want to add a drop or two of hot sauce into their bowls. However, I served it with that option available.

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Soup

3 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
2 cups pumpkin puree
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Whisk broth and pumpkin together until smooth. While stirring, add peanut butter and heat until melted. Add spices and simmer for a few minutes. The longer the better, but 15 minutes would be good. Be careful not to scorch.

Slow Cooker Method 
Whisk broth and pumpkin together until smooth. Add peanut butter and spices. Cook on low for six to eight hours. Stir before serving.

 Serve with croutons and enjoy!

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Well, that's it for now.

Until next time...

Monday Morning

 Good morning.

I am waiting for sunrise. We will see if the clouds obscure it or make the sky more colorful. In the meantime, there's a chill in the air, and it feels like fall. For once, the calendar and weather are in agreement. Now onto this and that. 

The repairman came and looked at our stove and, of course, he had to order a part. If all goes well, it should be fixed in about a week. It was interesting watching him work. He used his phone and was on the line with someone from GE, exchanging pictures and information. 

Yesterday, I went to book club, where we discussed Theo of Golden that I reviewed last week. Everyone in the club liked the book, with several people giving it a 10/10. We found the biggest difference in opinions came from whether or not you listened to the book or read it. I won't give any more details of the discussion in case someone still wants to read it, but the ending prompted the most differing opinions. 

Last time, I mentioned the Coal Miner Memorial, dedicated to the miners of the area who lost their lives in the mines. We visited this after our rail bike ride in Frostburg, Maryland. Coal mining was a dangerous, very difficult job, and it was sad to read all the names and ages of the people killed and the families they left behind. Many were children, as you were allowed to go to work with a family member at age 12. The visit was both an informative and sobering experience.

The Miner Memorial Park was located next to the rail trail that you see along the fence.

Well, the dawn has broken without much fanfare, with the sky lightening to a dull grey. So instead of a colorful sunrise, I will leave you with a few colorful pictures from around the yard. 

A praying mantis on some basil, which, by the way, I used to make pesto last week (the basil, not the praying mantis 😀).

A volunteer Peruvian zinnia. This is only one plant. The blooms are small, but abundant.

This marigold is also a volunteer. 

This rose bush is blooming despite the feast that bugs are making of its leaves.

A rose bush in another part of the yard is faring better with the bugs.

I finally found the spot where the lantana is happy. It has done well here this year and last year.

The beauty berries have formed. These will be good food for the birds this winter.

The butterfly bush blooms match the color of the berries.

The anemones always provide good fall color. However, they are invasive, and after fighting with them for years, I will probably pull them out.

And speaking of fall bloomers, the mums are just starting. 

In another part of the yard, a grasshopper is hiding among mums that are still buds.

I guess it's time to get on with my day and go feed my sister's cat while she's out of town.

Until next time...

Musings

Our range top is not working. After turning it on, it turns itself off in a few seconds. At first, the malfunction was intermittent, but now it happens every time on every burner. 

It's an induction range, which we really like, but it's too smart for its own good. When we first got the range, it came with a set of pots, and the skillet had a battery with it. We wondered what in the world that was for. It turns out that the skillet can talk to the internet, and then the internet talks to the stove and tells it how to cycle. We have never used that because we refuse to hook our appliances to the internet. (Although I realize that there could be many advantages to that. I basically don't like the idea of being hacked through my stove.)

Another thing the fancy cooktop does is turn off the burner when there's not a pot on it. We really like that safety feature, but now it does it even when a pot is on it. I think one of its computer circuits has gone haywire. 

The repairman is scheduled for tomorrow and hopefully will be able to easily fix the problem. In the meantime, for someone who is not into cooking, I'm surprised to find the non-working cooking top very inconvenient. But the oven works, as do the microwave and crockpot, so we are very blessed that this isn't really a problem. Just a minor annoyance.

BTW, did you notice in my descriptions about our stove, I used range, stove, and cooktop interchangeably. Maybe everyone but me is clear about those terms, but in case not, basically here is what they mean. A cooktop is self-explanatory. The top of the appliance that you cook on. A range includes both a cooktop and oven. A stove can refer to just the cooktop or the cooktop and oven together. Stove and range are often used interchangeably. On our range, only the cooktop is malfunctioning. Or I guess I could also say, on our range, only the stove is malfunctioning. There, did that clear everything up? 😉

When I sat down here to write, I had in mind to touch on a few things that have been going on around here. But apparently, I had more to say about the range/stove/cooktop than I realized. So the pictures of the coal miners memorial will have to wait for another day. 

Until next time...

Book Reviews

 Here are a few books I've been reading lately.

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi, Adult fiction, 2023

What it's about: Theo, an elderly man, moves to Golden, GA. He spots pencil portraits of local residents on the wall of a coffee shop and begins purchasing them. He gives each picture to the person featured in the drawing. Even though Theo is vague about his background, he gets recipients to talk freely about themselves with his quiet ways. Over time, Theo makes a difference in the lives of many people in the town. There is a bit of a mystery as to who Theo really is, but that is secondary to the personal stories of the people of Golden.

What did I think: I understand why this book is so popular. It has a quiet, understated feel that makes it a comforting read. Amongst the problems that the people face, there is a goodness to the overall situations. Also, there are many quotable quotes about life that Theo has learned throughout his years and shares. I think the writing was uneven at times, as the various vignettes are woven into a story, but that did not get in the way of the storytelling. I highly recommend this book, but not if you are looking for an action thriller. It is not that. 

What did others think: Theo of Golden was self-published in 2023. Its sales spread by word of mouth until it was published by a major publishing company in 2025. Then it was on the New York Times bestseller list. At all of the libraries around here, there are hundreds of people on the waitlist.

Her Heart's Desire by Shelley Shepard Gray, Adult fiction, 2023.

What it's about: Her Heart's Desire is an Amish Christian Romance in which Mary, a young 20-something Amish girl, travels to Florida from Ohio for a break. She meets two other Amish girls along the way, and they form a fast friendship, something they had not had before. They find romance and experience personal growth that makes them realize they need a change and that it's time to try new things.

What did I think? This was not the book for me. I found the story and writing very simplistic. Some of that may have come from the sheltered Amish lives the girls were living. I wanted to stop a couple of times, but was determined to finish to say that I have read one of this genre. This was Part 1 of the three-part Pinecraft series. I did not get invested in the characters enough to be reading the other two. 

What did others think? This book was given to me by a friend who reads many books in this genre. The author has written over 70 books to positive reviews and some awards. In this instance, I think Gray was writing a formula novel for which there is a proven market. Amazon gives it an A- and Goodreads gives it a B.

This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page, Adult fiction, 2026

What it's about: Tilly is a young grieving widow whose husband died six months ago from a long illness. Before he died, he worked with a local bookstore to find a year of books for his wife to encourage her after his death. Each month, she goes to the bookstore to get her book for the month. The books vary greatly, but encourage Tilly to live again. She slowly comes out of her stifling grief to move forward with her life. 

What did I think? If the book is about books, you've already hooked me. 😊

I found this one a touching and enjoyable read which explores grief and relationships, including romance. The story is somewhat predictable, but it was interesting to see what the new book was each month. I also appreciated all the references to various books of all kinds. They would make a good reading list. This Book Made Me Think of You was recommended to me by a friend, and I would recommend it, too.

What did others think? This book has several starred reviews and is on Amazon's editors' list of best books for 2026. Goodreads and Amazon readers give it an A.

Not Nothing by Gayle Forman, Children's fiction (middle grades), 2024.

What it's about: Twelve-year-old Alex is sentenced to community service in a nursing home for something he did that was very bad, the details of which are not revealed until the end of the book. He has had a chaotic life with a mentally ill mother and now lives with his aunt and uncle, who are not thrilled to have him. 

Alex comes into the nursing home with a huge chip on his shoulder and anger management issues. However, things start to turn around when he makes friends with Josey, a 107-year-old resident who has not spoken in 5 years by choice and is waiting to die. He speaks to Alex and tells the story of the love of his life and the atrocities of WWII they experienced. Other residents start opening up to Alex, and he is slowly transformed.

What did I think? I enjoyed this very powerful and touching story about the elderly and a troubled boy. Having spent time in nursing homes with both of my parents, I think the description of the characters there was very realistic. While not the main point, there were nods to gender issues and systems that fail troubled families and kids. I was moved by the book and shed a few tears at some of the more poignant parts. I highly recommend it.

What did others think? The book had many starred reviews, and both Amazon and Goodreads readers gave it an A. It was an Amazon editors' pick for Best Children's Books of 2024.

That's it for now.

Until next time...